It Has to Be: Dwight Robinson is 'Stealing' the Anti-Nick Signs

Mayor Andrew Hamilton, the Dictator of Deceit posting once again as “James Ross,” is claiming that Lake Forest City Councilman Adam Nick is stealing the negative "No on Nick" signs around town.

Given that Nick has suffered enough for doing the City a favor and removing illegally posted signs of Scott Voigts -- who got away with posting plenty of illegal signs around town since 2010 -- I don’t think it’s him. Not even the fact that charges were dropped, that Nick received an apology from the district attorney's office, or the acknowledgment that the media had misquoted the deputy district attorney, has been able to quell the accusations that Nick was guilty of a crime -- although it's largely perpetuated by the anti-Nick contingent.

But for being the extensive researcher that "James Ross" is, it would provide greater transparency and clarity for the reader if he cited a news report that had been updated to reflect the facts, and by updated, I mean something that wasn't written by him about a claim that is so egregious and serious.

But "James Ross" asks a reasonable question about the disappearance of anti-Nick signs that "James Ross" clearly wants left in place -- no doubt echoing an opinion held by Mayor Hamilton.

If the anti-Nick signs are disappearing, it could be someone disgusted by the negative campaigning done by Dwight Robinson, the virtuous councilman who said he was going to run a clean campaign.

The same virtuous councilman who let a smear campaign against Nick, Councilman Jim Gardner and residents of Lake Forest run its course before telling a reporter he thought it was “over the top,” a nice political move to try to distance himself from the mud. But Robinson had many opportunities to denounce the smear campaign prior to waiting for the recall period to end.

He could have said at any time that calling Lake Forest recall supporters thugs and pedophiles was inappropriate, but he did not.

He could have said that mocking an immigrant who risked his life to reach this country and sought to end corruption at City Hall was inappropriate, but he did not.

He could have said that making up lies and telling only half-truths against Nick and the people of Lake Forest was inappropriate, but he did not.

He could have said that not recognizing the names of those who legally changed their names was inappropriate, but he did not. Thank goodness Muhammad Ali never came to Lake Forest or Robinson would have introduced him as Cassius Clay.

That’s the official stance that Robinson took during the recall period. He paid for the campaign and with his silence he endorsed the campaign. A campaign of hate -- yet he's trying to pass himself off today as someone who's uniting the community.

A New Campaign

Now, a few months later, Robinson said he was going to run a clean campaign, but he lied on his ballot statement about the "nearly 100" people he employed at his Lake Forest business, and I know this because the only business mentioned on his ballot statement was his Lake Forest business.

He said he was going to run a clean campaign, but he lied about eliminating Mello Roos taxes, and I know this because there’s not a single homeowner in Portola Hills who paid less than what was required – there was no elimination of the Mello Roos; the residents paid off the tax no matter the semantics of Robinson and the Superintendent branch of his good ol' boys network.

He said he was going to run a clean campaign, but he has exaggerated his role in many things that took place during his four years in office, so much so that you can’t take him at his word for hardly anything that appears on his campaign literature.

He said he was going to run a clean campaign, but he lied at the City Council forum when he said it wasn’t true that he didn’t bring any of his 2012 campaign promises to the Council. He could have passed anything yet he is a champion of nothing.

He said he was going to run a clean campaign, but he has remained silent about the campaign blitz from “Citizens for Responsible Leadership” which has dredged the sewers in its campaign against Nick, referencing statements without context, outdated newspaper and media reports that included half-truths that failed to reveal the whole truth, and gross exaggerations.

Here’s the thing about the mailers from Citizens for Responsible Leadership: Conspicuous by its enormous size and placement is the disclaimer that appears on their materials supporting Robinson: “This ad was not authorized or paid for by a candidate for this office or a committee controlled by a candidate for this office.” Wink-wink.

It’s almost as if the candidate who is not authorizing the ad is making a point of drawing attention to the disclaimer as if to say, “Not me, this is over the top and I want to distance myself from it because I am the virtuous councilman.”

But maybe I’ve got this all wrong. Maybe Dwight Robinson is the virtuous councilman and decided he does want to run a clean campaign.

Maybe he’s the one who removed the signs. Since he’s running a clean campaign, I’m sure he would authorize it.

About the author: Martin Henderson won several Los Angeles and Orange County press club awards while an editor at Patch in 2012-13.